USTA Shows No Balls With Serena Williams Fine
Written by Bob Whalon, Monday September 12 2011
The U.S. Tennis Association came up small on Monday by fining Serena William a mere $2,000 for her tirade directed at a chair umpire at the U.S. Open during the championship match on Sunday.
A statement by the USTA said that the fine "is consistent with similar offenses at Grand Slam events." But the truth is, it was not.
Grand Slam director Bill Babcock reportedly conducted his own review and decided "Williams' conduct, while verbally abusive, does not rise to the level of a major offense under the Grand Slam Code of Conduct." However, Williams' tirade at the 2009 U.S. Open was deemed a major offense and this outburst was nearly as bad. The only difference was that this time Williams didn't use profanity.
In 2009 Williams was fined $10,000 by the U.S. Open and later fined a record $82,500 from Babcock. At that time Babcock said that if Williams committed a "major offense" at a Grand Slam tournament in 2010 or 2011, she would be barred from the following U.S. Open. That explains the careful wording of his statement to the press.
Since Williams is the top draw in women's tennis today, Babcock obviously didn't back up his word with the corresponding actions that Williams unacceptable behavior demanded.
On Sunday, Williams was losing to eventual champion, Samantha Stosur, when she was called for a foul by chair umpire Eva Asderaki. The umpire called for a code violation for verbal abuse after Williams yelled "Come on" before the Stosur was able to return the ball. Based on the intentional hindrance rule, which states that you can't yell at a player who is attempting to play a ball, Asderaki correctly awarded the point to Stosur even though she was unable to return the shot.
That set Williams off on a tirade directed at the umpire. "You're out of control" Williams said to Asderaki. She continued with her insults by saying, "You're a hater, you're just unattractive inside." Williams even brought shame to the 10th anniversary of 9/11 by making the comment, "We're in America, last time I checked," in her embarrassing attempt to defend her right to complain.
When Williams finally lost to Stosur, she left the court without shaking the umpire's hand and said, "Don't even look at me."
A player who doesn't have Williams' marketability would have received a hefty fine and most likely, the suspension that Babcock promised. By giving Williams neither one, the U.S. Tennis Association showed that they have no balls.
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